It has long been a goal of the garment industry to provide custom-fit or made-to-measure clothing on a mass level. Of course, custom-tailored clothing has long been available to those who can afford the high cost of having a tailor measure the dimensions of their body and producexe2x80x94through a series of fittings and additional measurementsxe2x80x94clothing that is customized to fit to their exact dimensions. However, with the advent of catalog and Internet shopping, a significant need has arisen in the garment industry to acquire accurate measurements directly from the customer in order to find the proper ready-to-wear item or to either alter or make a garment to order.
The difficulty in providing more extensive access to custom-tailored clothing is twofold. First, it is difficult to obtain the precise measurements of the customer""s physical dimensions without consuming substantial amounts of the seller""s time. Thus, in order to obtain the measurements, a seller must have a large staff capable of taking and recording a multitude of exact measurements of the customer""s body. Such a large staff dramatically increases the seller""s overhead costs. These costs are, of course, transferred to the buyer, increasing the cost of the clothing, often to a degree prohibitive to most customers.
Second, once a set of exact measurements is obtained, the tailor must construct a set of patterns based on those measurements which fit the customer well by allowing for freedom of movement of the customer""s limbs. Traditionally, a tailor works with a muslin pattern based on the original measurements and, through at least one iteration, i.e., the fitting, adjusts the measurements to account for freedom of movement. Thus, the customer must visit the tailor for at least two sets of measurements, the original set and the fitting, before he or she can expect to receive the finished garment. Not only are the costs of the garment increased due to the expense of providing a tailor to perform the fitting, the customer is inconvenienced as a result of the need to appear at least twice at the seller""s outlet.
Apart from time and cost considerations, custom-tailoring is a very invasive process involving a great deal of contact, often uncomfortable, between the tailor and the buyer. The invasion of privacy inherent in the custom-tailoring process discourages many potential buyers.
Numerous methods of automating the measurement and pattern-producing process have been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,293,959 discloses a stretch bodysuit to which muslin panels are attached in order to create patterns for clothing which will perfectly fit the wearer of the bodysuit. While this approach effectively produces patterns for custom-fitted clothing, it still requires custom application of muslin panels to the wearerxe2x80x94a time-consuming and inefficient process. Similarly, the Levi""s Corporation has introduced a xe2x80x9ccustom-fitxe2x80x9d program for providing custom-fitted trousers to customers. In reality, this program merely provides a very large number of model trousers, as many as 400 in a given location, from which the buyer selects the trousers which fit most closely to his or her body. While this approach does not require the presence of an expert tailor to perform a fitting, the process of selecting the appropriate trousers may still be time-consuming. Furthermore, maintaining a trial inventory of up to 400 trousers at the retail outlet may be a substantial burden to the seller.
Consequently, it is desirable to provide a method for rapidly, accurately, and privately taking the precise measurements of a buyer""s bodily dimensions. It is further desirable to provide a means for measuring the buyer""s dimensions once and producing a custom pattern from which garments may be produced without the need for additional measurements or fittings. To accomplish this goal, it is important to eliminate as many potential errors in the measurement acquisition process as possible. It is also desirable to provide a measuring system whereby the user can continuously update existing measurements and take new ones if needed.
The measurement acquisition system of the present invention includes a stretch bodysuit marked so as to allow for precise measurements of portions of the body enclosed by the bodysuit. Specific benchmarks are located at key points in the bodysuit which are aligned with or positioned to coincide with critical measuring points, such as joints or other body features. The benchmarks act as guidelines for placing a tape measure or other measuring device on the body to determine the dimensions required to fit a garment, such as the circumference of the waistline, thigh, seat, and other relevant dimensions. A series of lines interconnect the benchmarks to provide similar guidance for measuring inseams, outseams, sleeve lengths, and other equally important dimensions. The tape measure used with the suit may include a rigid extension upon which the customer stands and/or a sliding indicator in order to simplify and improve the accuracy of the measurement acquisition process.
Alternatively, the bodysuit and the lines and benchmarks thereon may be produced in such a fashion as to facilitate optical scanning of the suit. A computer program is then provided which analyzes the scanned image and determines the critical measurements. In another embodiment, the bodysuit may contain sensors incorporated directly therein that generate a signal corresponding to the desired measurements. The customer""s measurements can thus be determined automatically, without the need for time-consuming manual measuring. In yet another embodiment, elastic bands positioned along critical measurement locations are marked in such a manner that the deformation of the elastic band, which is proportional to the measurement being taken, distorts the markings such that a marking corresponding to the accurate measurement of the particular body part is visibly distinct from the other markings.
Other embodiments of the invention allow for accurate measurement acquisition without the use of the bodysuit. One such embodiment provides for direct application of adhesive measuring tape to the customer""s skin or undergarment. In another embodiment, numbered labels indicating the corresponding body part name are adhered to the customer""s skin or undergarment to guide the user in taking the critical measurements.
Once the dimensions have been recorded, either automatically or manually, a computer program uses the dimensions to generate a pattern for the desired garment. The program may be resident on the user""s computer. Alternatively, the user may transmit the dimensions to the central facility, whereupon a computer program at the central facility creates the pattern and directs the textile machinery to produce the garment.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a means for rapidly, accurately, and privately taking precise measurements of a person""s bodily dimensions.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a means for producing a custom pattern from which garments may be produced without the need for additional measurements or fittings.
Another object of this invention is to provide a system for rapidly and accurately taking precise measurements of a person""s bodily dimensions without the need for manual observation or recordation of the desired dimensions.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an integrated system for taking bodily measurements, generating custom patterns, and producing custom fitted clothing.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a system whereby customized measurements of individuals may be taken and forwarded to a centralized site for manufacturing custom-fitted clothing or fitting ready-to-wear garments.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent with reference to the remainder of the written portion and the drawings of this application, which are intended to exemplify and not to limit the invention.